If you have ever dealt with unexpected equipment downtime, urgent purchases, or scattered spending across multiple suppliers, you have already experienced why MRO matters. In procurement, MRO is one of the biggest hidden opportunities for cost savings, operational stability, and smarter purchasing decisions.
This guide explains What is MRO?, why it is essential across industries, and how to build an effective MRO procurement and sourcing strategy using proven strategic planning principles. You will also learn how the right structure, supplier approach, and performance tracking can turn MRO into a competitive advantage rather than a constant headache.
In most industries, MRO includes the products, services, and processes needed to keep facilities, equipment, and day-to-day business functions running smoothly.
Most commonly, it stands for maintenance repair and operations.
However, it is important to note that in aviation, MRO refers to maintenance repair and overhaul. This meaning is widely used in airline operations, aerospace, and aircraft fleet management.
In some organizations, you may also see MR&O, which is often used interchangeably with MRO and generally refers to the same category of spend and operational activity.
MRO includes items that do not directly become part of your final product, but are essential to keep production, operations, and facilities functioning. Common examples include:
Tools and safety equipment
Lubricants, filters, bearings, and spare parts
Cleaning materials and facility supplies
Electrical components and basic maintenance items
Packaging support items in some environments
General office consumables used to support operations teams
This is why MRO products can feel “invisible” until they are urgently needed. The impact of missing them is immediate.
Unlike direct materials, MRO purchasing is often decentralized, frequent, and reactive. That creates:
Higher prices due to unplanned buying
Too many vendors with overlapping categories
Inconsistent specifications and quality
Inventory issues and stockouts
Low visibility across the MRO supply chain
That is why building a deliberate MRO procurement strategy is critical.
Many businesses treat MRO as strictly “industrial,” but in reality, there is a major crossover between MRO and everyday workplace purchasing.
For example, a facility team might order:
Gloves, paper towels, cleaning chemicals
Labels, tape, zip ties, and basic tools
Printer paper, pens, and clipboards
Storage bins and light-duty equipment
At the same time, admin teams order:
Standard office supplies
Snacks, kitchen supplies, and breakroom items
Printer ink and paper products
General office consumables
This overlap is exactly where uncontrolled spend grows. When office supplies and MRO are sourced separately with different suppliers and pricing, you often get:
Duplicate suppliers
Higher delivery costs
Inconsistent product standards
Multiple purchase processes across departments
A strong strategy connects these categories without forcing a one-size-fits-all approach. The goal is to make purchasing easier, not more restrictive.
To build an effective sourcing plan, you need a clear framework for strategic planning. A successful MRO strategy balances operational continuity with procurement discipline.
Here is a step-by-step approach to building a modern MRO procurement model.
Start by breaking MRO into manageable buckets. Examples:
Critical spares and maintenance parts
Safety and PPE
Tools and consumables
Facility and janitorial supplies
Electrical, plumbing, HVAC support
MRO industrial supplies for production environments
Office supplies and admin support items
This segmentation helps you prioritize what needs tight control versus what can remain flexible.
A major reason MRO spend increases is product variation. Multiple teams buy slightly different versions of the same item. Over time, that creates:
Higher inventory levels
More suppliers
Less negotiating leverage
Higher risk of incompatible replacements
Standardization reduces complexity and supports a stronger MRO supply chain.
Once categories are clear, define how purchases should happen:
Preferred supplier lists by category
Approved substitutes for critical items
Emergency buying rules
Digital catalogs with controlled pricing
Guided buying workflows
This is the foundation of scalable MRO solutions.
One of the biggest decisions in MRO procurement is whether purchasing should be centralized.
A centralized approach typically means procurement controls supplier selection, pricing, and purchase processes. Benefits include:
Stronger leverage for negotiation
More consistent quality and specifications
Better spend visibility
Easier supplier consolidation
More stable supply planning
This works especially well for high-volume MRO products and repeat purchases.
A non-centralized model gives departments more flexibility and faster decision-making. Benefits include:
Speed for urgent maintenance needs
Local knowledge of equipment and requirements
Less bottlenecking for small purchases
However, it often creates uncontrolled vendor growth and inconsistent pricing across locations.
Most companies succeed with a hybrid model:
Centralize supplier strategy and pricing
Allow controlled local buying for urgent needs
Standardize critical categories and high-spend items
Keep flexibility where downtime risk is high
This hybrid structure is often the smartest form of strategic planning for long-term performance.
A high-performing MRO plan should aim for outcomes that matter to both operations and finance. Here are four common goals to build into your strategy.
Sustainability is increasingly part of procurement decision-making. For MRO, this could include:
Eco-friendly cleaning and facility items
Reduced packaging and fewer deliveries
Longer-life consumables and tools
Responsible sourcing policies for suppliers
Sustainability becomes easier when purchasing is consolidated and tracked.
Cost reduction is not only about lower unit prices. True MRO savings often come from:
Reducing emergency purchases
Eliminating duplicate suppliers
Lowering freight and delivery costs
Improving inventory management
Standardizing high-usage items
This is where MRO procurement becomes a measurable value driver.
Supplier consolidation improves control and efficiency. Instead of buying from 30 vendors for similar categories, companies can reduce complexity by selecting fewer partners for broader coverage.
Consolidation supports:
Better pricing
Simplified invoicing
Stronger service levels
Improved compliance
More stable MRO supply chain performance
Local sourcing can be an excellent advantage in MRO, especially when downtime is expensive. Local supplier networks can offer:
Faster lead times
Lower shipping costs
Better responsiveness
Flexible fulfillment for urgent needs
When local sourcing is part of strategic planning, it strengthens resilience without sacrificing procurement control.
A strategy is only effective if you can measure it. Tracking the right KPIs ensures your MRO program improves over time.
Here are practical KPIs for evaluating MRO procurement performance:
This measures how much MRO spend flows through preferred suppliers, contracts, or controlled channels. Higher percentages usually mean better control and savings.
Track how many suppliers are being used for MRO and whether consolidation is improving results.
If a critical spare is missing, the cost is often far greater than the price of the part. Tracking stockouts connects procurement performance to operational outcomes.
How long does it take from request to delivery? This matters for maintenance teams who need fast turnaround.
This shows how often teams purchase from preferred suppliers at negotiated pricing.
Include both negotiated savings and avoided costs, such as reduced emergency shipping or fewer rush orders.
This helps identify whether sites or departments are paying different rates for the same MRO industrial supplies.
Tracking these KPIs turns MRO into a structured part of your business strategy, not just a reactive expense category.
Building a strong MRO strategy requires more than just finding suppliers. It requires alignment between procurement, maintenance teams, operations, and finance.
CenterPoint Group helps organizations build and optimize their MRO sourcing approach with a focus on measurable outcomes. Rather than pushing a one-size-fits-all solution, the goal is to improve performance through practical structure, smarter supplier management, and better buying channels.
CenterPoint Group can support you with:
Category analysis and sourcing design for maintenance repair and operations needs
Supplier consolidation strategies for both MRO and related office supplies categories
Identifying the right suppliers for MRO industrial supplies and recurring facility spend
Improving compliance and reducing rogue spend through better procurement processes
Building scalable MRO solutions that fit multi-site operations
Strengthening your end-to-end MRO supply chain through smarter planning and vendor management
Helping align procurement strategy with long-term strategic planning priorities
Whether you are starting from scratch or refining an existing approach, CenterPoint Group can help you create a strategy that supports reliability, cost savings, and operational continuity.
So, What is MRO? It is the foundation that keeps operations running, assets maintained, and teams productive. In most industries, it refers to maintenance repair and operations, and in aviation it refers to maintenance repair and overhaul.
The best companies treat MRO as a strategic category. With the right strategic planning, you can reduce cost, simplify supplier networks, improve sustainability, and increase operational uptime.
A well-built MRO procurement strategy is not about restricting teams. It is about making purchasing faster, more consistent, and more cost-effective across the organization. When done correctly, MRO becomes a driver of performance, not a constant source of urgent problems.
If you want to modernize your approach, now is the time to take control of your MRO sourcing model and build a procurement strategy that is resilient, measurable, and aligned with your broader business strategy.